Details for Tees Valley

The Tees Valley is located between North Yorkshire and County Durham, stretching from the mouth of the River Tees through to Darlington and hence is known as the Tees Valley.

This location in the North East of England, ensures the region has some fantastic natural features including - over 30 miles of coastline and a vast region of countryside including open fields, hills, villages and forests.

The Tees Valley contains some remote and sparsely populated spots but is easily accessed from many major cities by the road and rail networks.

The area has a mixture of both towns like Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Guisborough, and villages like Norton, BIllingham and Eaglescliffe. These villages are often very picturesque and represent a traditional way of life. Yarm-on-Tees is a town almost fully surrounded by a curve in the River Tees from which the area's name derives. Yarm's cobbled high street, complete with red tiled roofs and Georgian town hall was built in the early 18th Century and has been voted the 'Best High Street' in the UK in 2007. Yarm also a significant viaduct that is over 2,000 feet long, built in the mid 19th Century for the Leeds to London railway line. This impressive structure contains seven million bricks!

The Tees Valley region has played an important part of the history of rail travel. In the early 19th century the Stockton to Darlington Railway was opened and as well carrying coal, an extra carriage was attached,...

taking paying passengers. This is the first recorded instance of public locomotive travel anywhere in the world. During the journey, this train would make a stop at Yarm where a brass band would get on the train to entertain the carriage full of passengers.

Middlesbrough is the largest town in the region which boasts a wide range of attractions and entertainment including cinema, ten pin bowling and theatre to museums and events. The Middlesbrough Mela is an annual event, one of the biggest multi-cultural festivals in the North East of England, which includes fairs, stalls and live acts of all description. The event usually takes place in July.